Mike Monroe: Manu back in SA

After more than an hour on a runway in Beijing, 12 more hours in the air, an hour clearing customs at O’Hare Airport and three more waiting for a connecting flight, Spurs star Manu Ginobili arrived at San Antonio International Airport late Monday night and discovered the truth about heroes.

When it comes to lost luggage, Olympic medalists get no special favors.

Missing were three of the four bags Ginobilli and his wife had checked in Beijing, where Ginobili had collected a bronze medal as the leading scorer for the Argentine Olympic team.

Ginobili’s value to the Spurs, though, was reinforced. There to retrieve him was coach Gregg Popovich, who planted a kiss on his cheek as he spirited him away from a brief interview session.

The two had spoken by phone after Ginobili on Friday suffered another injury to the left ankle that had hampered him during the Spurs’ playoff run in the spring. The Spurs’ medical staff will re-examine Ginobili’s ankle this week, though Popovich made it clear Ginobili’s first priority is getting some rest.

“He’s been on a plane a long time,” Popovich said as he ushered him out of the terminal to a van waiting just outside the door.

Ginobili said Popovich had not questioned his decision to play in the Olympic tournament, rather than resting the ankle, despite the injury that occurred early in Argentina’s loss to the United States in the semifinals.

“That’s how it felt from 8,000 miles away,” Ginobili said. “He understood, and I was truthful from what I said from the beginning. I felt great for a month-and-a-half. I guess it was going to happen sooner or later, and it did. So now I have a month to rehab it.”

The injury did not diminish Ginobili’s pride in earning his second Olympic medal.

“To play in the Olympic Games is a unique experience,” Ginobili said. “I’m so proud, so happy to represent our country the way we did it, in accomplishing the big goal, which was to get to the podium. They said that for us it would be once in a lifetime. For us, it was two times in a lifetime, so we are very happy.”